"Please Just Prevent Production Halt" Plea... Korean GM Union Ultimately 'Partial Strike' (Comprehensive)

Partial Strike Begins with Day Shift Workers on This Day

The Korea GM Bupyeong plant, which stopped operations last September due to a full-scale strike by the labor union (Photo by Yonhap News)

"Korea GM is already experiencing severe operational difficulties due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We deeply regret the union's decision to strike, which has caused additional production disruptions following the loss of 60,000 units due to COVID-19."

"If the wage and collective bargaining agreement (CBA) issue is not resolved promptly, suppliers with weak liquidity could face the worst-case scenario, including bankruptcy. At this time, even a one- or two-day production stoppage must not occur."

Despite appeals from the company and its suppliers, the Korea GM union has launched a partial strike. After failing to narrow differences in this year's wage and collective bargaining negotiations, the union escalated its actions from stopping overtime and holiday work to full-scale protest. This is the first strike by a domestic automaker union since the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to industry sources on the 30th, production workers on the early and late shifts at Korea GM will each strike for four hours. The same strike schedule will be followed on the 2nd of next month. After failing to reach an agreement in the 21st round of wage and CBA negotiations with management the previous day, the union held a central strike countermeasure committee meeting and decided on the partial strike.

The union also decided to continue refusing overtime and holiday work, which began on the 23rd, until the conclusion of the wage and CBA negotiations. The schedule after that will be decided at the next strike countermeasure committee meeting on the 3rd of next month, the day after the strike.

On the previous day, Korea GM labor and management held negotiations from 2 p.m. at the company's request after the final proposal was submitted, but the talks ended after about 10 minutes with only reaffirmation of their differences. The company’s strong insistence on a 'two-year cycle wage and collective bargaining agreement' in the final proposal prevented progress in the negotiations.

The final proposal included freezing this year's base salary but increasing it by 22,000 KRW per month next year. The performance bonus, previously proposed at around 5.5 million KRW, was raised to 7 million KRW. This was based on an agreement to a two-year cycle wage negotiation and included a special one-time payment of 1.5 million KRW. Additionally, the company agreed to pay 1.3 million KRW unconditionally, which was initially conditional on reaching the breakeven point by the end of this year. Korea GM is advocating for a two-year cycle wage and collective bargaining agreement this year to stabilize labor-management relations.

However, the union rejected the proposal and decided to strike. The union stated, "Although there are signs of consideration in the company's proposal, key issues remain unresolved, making it unacceptable. We absolutely cannot accept a two-year cycle proposal." The union is demanding a monthly base salary increase of 120,304 KRW and a performance bonus of 6 million KRW on top of 400% of the ordinary wage (averaging over 20 million KRW) in this year's wage and CBA negotiations.

There are also significant differences regarding future plans for each factory. The union is demanding the company present plans for new car production allocations at the Bupyeong 2 plant, but the company insists on extending the production schedule for already allocated vehicles.

As labor-management relations at Korea GM deteriorate and the strike begins, concerns are expected to deepen not only for Korea GM but also for its suppliers. When the union started refusing overtime and holiday work last week, voices of concern emerged within the industry.

With major export markets recently recovering, Korea GM is trying to offset losses in the first half of the year by promoting new models like the Trailblazer. However, production disruptions caused by the strike make timely market responses difficult. Korea GM estimates that production losses due to the refusal of overtime and holiday work already amount to about 1,700 units.

Suppliers also expressed concerns in a statement on the 28th. The Korea GM Suppliers Association (Hyeopsinhae) said, "Suppliers have invested and allocated personnel according to Korea GM's second-half production plans, but production stoppages will cause additional losses. We must maximize production and recover losses during the remaining period of this year." They urged, "Please prevent any further stoppage of the automaker's production lines" and called for a swift resolution to the negotiations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.